AN 



ADDRESS 



TO THE MEMBERS OF THE 



NEW ENGLAND 



§htoxit~(Btntalo%uai Borietg, 



DELIVERED MARCH 1st, 1852, 



BY WILLIAM JENKS, D. D., &c, 



AN HONORARY MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY. 



! 



J 






AN 



J~~ 



ADDRESS 



TO THE MEMBERS OF THE 



NEW ENGLAND 



jE)i0toric~C0>nual0gtcat Sarietg, 



DELIVERED MARCH 1st, 1852, 



J 



BY WILLIAM JENKS, D. D., &c, 



AN HONORARY MEMBER OF THE SOCIETY. 



\ ' > 




PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE SOCIETY. 



BOSTON: 

THOMAS PRINCE, PRINTER, 11 1-2 TREMONT ROW, 

Office of the N. E. Hist, and Gen. Register. 
1852. 



ADDRESS. 



Gentlemen of the Historic-Genealogical Society : 

More than fifty years ago a retired merchant, an octogenarian 
New Englander, one of whose ancestors had been active and suc- 
cessful in resisting by force the tyrannical government of Andros, 
observed to him who addresses you this evening, " The time will 
come, sir, when it will be accounted an honor to have descended 
from the men who first settled this country." The remark was 
made by a gentleman of the old school, who loved to dwell on the 
past, and was intimately conversant with scenes and persons in 
Boston and its vicinage, during the deeply interesting period in 
which a national character was in the process of creation, as the 
way was preparing, in the wonderful Providence of God, for the 
formation and establishment of our great and prosperous Republic. 

I little thought, at that time, of witnessing the institution of 
your respected Association. The Massachusetts Historical Society 
had indeed existed for some years, and I had been favored by an 
acquaintance, while a youth, with most of its founders, some of 
whom were the kind patrons of my early studies. The names of 
Belknap, Eliot and Freeman were, in this view, peculiarly dear. 
They and their honored associates were instrumental in encour- 
aging and diffusing a taste for historical research ; and to each of 
them whatever related to the lives, circumstances and influence of 
the civil and religious fathers of our community, was interesting. 
Sullivan, their venerated President, Minot, their beloved fellow- 
laborer, are known as civil historians. And Walcot,* with his 

* This indefatigable collector of books once remarked to the author, ' I shall be sat- 
isfied if I can but carry the hod and mortar for men of learning.' His humble ambition 
was indeed gratified in the growth and prosperity of the Society. — [See Memoir, in 
Coll. VII. 3d S.] 



eager desires for amassing volume on volume of the "olden time," 
became an efficient helper in their literary exertions. 

These men. whose memory deserves so well of even their 
country, not to say of Massachusetts and New England only, 
w< re but successors of other workmen. Winslow, Bradford and 
W [nthrof — blessed be their names and their descendants ! — were, 
happily, journalists. Hubbard and the Mathers drew from them, 
and transmitted new treasures to posterity. Prince perpetuated, 
1 had almost said, the possession of these treasures, — but I check 
the expression; for I would, not forget the Vandal desecration of 
the Old South meetinghouse by the myrmidons of war. 'brutish 
men, and skilful to destroy,' 5 * nor the ruin and partial dispersion 
of In- precious ' New- En gland Library.' And Prince was Bel- 
knap's respected and beloved pastor. 

\. .. rtheless, the field of human effort among us has become so 
extensive, the care of cultivating its various and multiplying de- 
partments so imperative, that the great and pressing concerns of 
society occupy the minds of the active portions of our community. 
I • v. comparatively, are found who give themselves leisure to look 
hack, and cautiously examine the traces [eft by former years and 
former travellers. Some there are, however, and their number 
has increased greatly in the last half century; and 1 ask your 
attention, gentlemen, and that of this audience, while I endeavor 
to exhibit and vindicate their pursuits, as succinctly as 1 may: 
and offer a few suggestions. 

The gathering ol facts is all-important to human progress. Our 

own countryman, Jefferson, has well remarked,! that 'a patient 

.(•Hon and comparison of them is a task imposed by his .Maker 

mi even man. if he desires to obtain accurate knowledge.' 'N et, 

■ 

it must be admitted, that the labor attending this collection for 
purposes of comparison, and other uses, maj not bring with it, at 
the moment, its full advantage. Time may be needed for the de- 
■u ol' tins. Nor is n a fatality singular and uncommon. 
It occurs in almost all the sciences,} and belongs, in a good mea- 

* So designated were ancient warriors by the infallible word of inspiration, Ezek. 
81. 

• Notes "ii \ irginia 

t Thus in philology, as Quinctilian so beautifully describes : ' Parva docemus, in- 

stituendum oratorem • ted est sua etiam -imtiis infantia; et ut corpornm mox 

riiorum educatio a lacte cunisque initium ducil ' — *ue ■ j u i s tanquam parva 

faatidiai (trammalices elements '— ' quia interiors velnt «m hujus adeuntibus apparebit 

rnulta rerum subtililas ' 'quae'- 'exercere altissimam ' — ' eruditionem ac scientists 

[In-lit . ( h.ii. b. I. 1". 22.] 



sure, to the nature of man and human society. One age improves 
and perfects, it maybe, what a preceding age has but hoarded up. 
Foundations only are often laid — though with labor and care — 
and are builded upon, and, in Scriptural phrase, ' raised up,' * by 
those whose privilege it is to come after. 

Some, then, are but collectors, while those who succeed them 
have their accumulations to use. How apparent in the science, if 
it may be so named, of Statistics is this truth — as well as in the 
accumulations of pecuniary wealth to be transmitted to legal heirs. 
And yet how minute and laborious the gathering of the facts — 
how extensive the uses to which they may be applied. And I 
must add, that this collection of facts is far more laborious than is 
mere declamation. Yet the latter, plausible and enchanting 
though it sometimes be, is baseless without them and empty. 

Now what is History but a series of facts, suitably arranged, 
well authenticated, and connected in the order of God's providence? 
It is the illustration of His august government of the affairs of 
men, and their circumstances, characters, actions and fortunes. 
But it is evident, that the dignity and measured march of History, 
intent on the production and exhibition of some great result, will 
hardly admit the distinct specifications of its processes. This 
would be tedious, as it would be voluminous ; and the world could 
scarcely retain or receive ' the books that might be written.' j - 

There is, then, room provided for another course. The antiqua- 
ry and the genealogist have each his province. And so has it 
been in the ages of antiquity and onward. Athen^us and Dio- 
nysius of Halycarnassus among the Greeks, Varro, Macrobius and 
Aulus Gellius among the Romans, were but precursors of Du 
Chesne, Spencer, Gr^evius, Gronovius, Spelman, Du Fresne, Du 
Cange, Anselme; the Benedictines, Montfaucon and Mabillon, 
peculiarly ; Muratori, Leland, Hearne, Anderson and Gough 
among the moderns. In fact, the very record of their names 
would show the importance of the station they hold, and the 
relation they sustain to the accurate knowledge of the ordinary 
concernments of life. For History being the record of human 
affairs — and these being the affairs of individual men, who, in the 
aggregate, form the mass with which general history is conversant, 
Biography, for purposes of instruction and profit, becomes the 
very essence of history. And how can biography be perfected, 
but by attending to the minuter features of individual life? It is 
not to waste itself in vague generalities. It identifies men by their 
peculiar characteristics. It brings ' home,' to use lord Bacon's 

* Isaiah lviii. 12. t John, xxi, 25. 



phrase, ( to men's business and bosoms' the lessons, not merely of 
great occasions, but also of every-day existence. 

It is well worthy of remark, what an exhibition is made us in 
the book of books, designed for the instruction of the world, of 
attention to private history. How familiar are we made with the 
character and circumstances of Abraham, and of Isaac his son, 
and of Jacob and his family. And at times what scenes of deep 
domestic interest are set before us, as if to teach the lessons of 
humanity, to sanctify the scenes of the family circle, check the 
wanderings of a speculative fancy, and fix the mind and feelings, 
for personal instruction, on practical life and individual idiosyn- 
crasies, the consequences of which we trace in the history, ulti- 
mately; of nations. 

Some, too, of the most beautiful traits of ancient genius in 
heathen nations are seen in biographical sketches. Not to mention 
the Grecian Plutarch and Diogenes Laertius, nor the Roman 
Nepos and Suetonius, witness the charming exhibition of Agricola 
in the life written by Tacitus of his honored father-in-law ; the 
letters also of Cicero and the younger Pliny, abounding with inter- 
esting personalities, — the Creek Memorabilia of Socrates, and life 
of Agesilaus, by the accomplished, gentlemanly Xenophon, and 
other similar tractates. 

One of your objects, Gentlemen, and a most important one, is 
the actual preservation of the exceedingly perishable and often 
really perishing original documents relating to personal family or 
public history, in the form of letters, diaries, or casual memoranda, 
of various and indescribable character. And what unavailing 
sympathy is not seldom excited in the antiquary's sad complaim 
of the — in his view- -wanton destruction of old. family papers! 
Alas, how often is the melancholy answer to his inquiries given in 
the astounding intelligence, thai 'nobody seemed to care about 
them, they were lumbering up the house, and at length were car- 
ried away into the attic, became covered with dust, and lately, on 
clearing out the apartmenl for some other use. they were all burnt !' 
< tin- losses of this description, as well as those by casualties nna- 
dable, it would surpass the skill of any antiquary to compute. 
\jaui. it is desirable, that, oul of the necessary researches for 
the purpose, there should be formed a Map of our Country, or at 
least of New England, taking us natural features from the most 
ent discoveries and observations, but giving the ancient names 
of mountains, rivers, headlands, hays, lakes, ponds. vVc: since 
th< Be are found to have often been \> ry expressive of some natural 
feature or quality, and the preservation of them may aid in the 
philological investigations respecting our aboriginals. 



If I mistake not, our indefatigable Corresponding Secretary * 
has already made some progress in one of this nature ; and, nearly 
a "century since, that able and devoted antiquary, Governor Pow- 
nall, of Massachusetts, published one of North America, in which 
is imbodied much of the information I allude to, in the location of 
several of the native tribes. But it is not confined to the period 
antecedent to European immigration. And, surely, if in the land 
' of our fathers' sepulchres 'f the labors of such men as Horseley, 
Stukeley, Burton and Henry be prized, we too may have our 
successful investigators, whose vigils thus spent shall prove a light 
to posterity. 

It is exceedingly desirable that a new and improved edition be 
given of the ' Magnalia Christi Americana.' Grant it to be defi- 
cient ; let then its deficiencies be supplied. Ample notes can be 
added, the history of individuals enlarged, and that of their 
families brought down to our own times. Such an idea is not new. 
The first librarian of the American Antiquarian Society $ planned 
a new edition of Mather's great work, and went so far as to form 
an Index to it, which is much needed ; but I am sorry to say it 
has not been discovered since Mr. Baldwin's lamented death. Yet 
I am happy to learn, that your present respected President^ is, 
shall I say '? — engaged to produce it. May great success attend 
his labors, that, as you owe so much to the toils and sacrifices of 
the gentleman who first presided || over your Society, his successor 
may consign to your care, and that of posterity, the perfected work 
to which I allude. 

Another work seems also to demand the notice, and intelligent 
and persevering research, of some one of your number ; it is a 
reproduction of Hutchinson's ' History of Massachusetts,' enriched 
with suitable notes, portraits of the Governors of the State, so far 
as procurable, and proper additions to the rich collection of the 
documents which already form one of his valuable volumes. 

Nor can I omit to express the desire, that it may be your privi- 
lege to obtain, ultimately, a complete series of those admirable 
publications, as interesting as they are costly, the County Histories 
of England. Look at the immense piles — if your eyes may fortu- 
nately enjoy the privilege of the sight — which cannot be, I think, 
on this side of the Atlantic. What labor of investigation ! What 
patience, travel, inquiry, correspondence, and arrangement of 

*S. G. Drake, Esq., author of several valuable works on the American Indians, 
and Editor of some vols, of the N. E. Hist. & Gen. Register. 

+ Neh. ii. 3. t Christopher C. Baldwin, Esq. 

§Rev. Joseph B. Felt. II Charles Ewer, Esq. 



s 

gathered materials must have been expended to produce the 
mass ! 

Yet it is invaluable in its proper point of view. And much, I 
repeat, is it to be desired, that in some one, at least, of our numer- 
ous, but as yet inadequate libraries — inadequate to the wants of 
any liberal historical inquirer — there should be found a collection 
of them. Were this to be your happiness, Gentlemen — you, who 
would best know their value, and how to use them — what cause 
for congratulation would be the formation of your Society ! 

Harvard University possesses a few — some of them the noble 
gift of patriotic Englishmen — some the purchase of a neighboring 
State, * which became a patron of learning in its contribution to 
supply the destruction made by fire, eighty years ago, and more — 
but not a small portion from the funds assigned by Massachusetts 
herself, and the munificence of her private citizens. 

Still, it is very defective, and meagre comparatively ; as is the 
collection of the American Antiquarian Society, of our Massachu- 
setts Historical Society, and every other with which I am 
acquainted. "What, indeed, may have been effected in this matter 
by the last addition made to the princely Astor library of the city 
of New York, I know not — as the catalogue is yet unpublished. 
But most earnestly do I wish, that such may be the generosity of 
the patrons of literature in our country, that this acquisition may 
speedily be accomplished — somewhere, and somehow — but how or 
where is not for me to say. 

Nor, perhaps, will it be inapposite here to suggest, that all 
which relates to the original natives and possessors of this country 
cannot, as I trust, but find, Gentlemen, a response in your hearts, 
and form acceptable items of the intelligence you seek. It is a 
melancholy spectacle which they exhibit in their decline, exposed 

they have I" en to the arts and deceptions of evil-minded white 
men, devoid of the spirit of the Pilgrim Fathers. 

Their history has been too often written in violence and blood, 
intemperance and neglect. Yet, blessed be God ! then- are not a 
leu redeeming and honorable exceptions. Gookin, and Eliot, and 
the Mayhews, here deserve the most urn:. nil commemoration. 
Nevertheless, were any of the natives capable of writing their 
who!.- history .is truth requires, we must blush for the figure winch 
many of our country m« u would exhibit. 

Once more, bowevei permit mi to revert to the New England 
Fathers- our ever fruitful subject ol contemplation. American 

antiquaries may congratulate themselves, that, in ascertaining 



* New 1 [ampsbirc. 



their origin, they are not compelled to ascend to an age of fables, 
as did the Greeks, the Romans, the Chinese, the Persians, and 
many other ancient nations. Our country received its European 
population in an age of intellectual light, comparatively. But 
that population was only an offspring of ancient families, notwith- 
standing. We insensibly but necessarily, therefore, slide into in- 
quiries beyond our own shores. And where will they end, but 
with the proverbial length of a Welsh pedigree, or the exhaustion 
of almost all the ' historic-genealogical ' treasures of Europe ? 

God's facts demand and ought ever to receive attention. Mere 
human declamation, if it be not connected with a careful collection, 
arrangement and exhibition of them, seems, as I have already 
said, of little worth. Now, England is. to the greater portion of 
our inhabitants, what Normandy was to the descendants of those 
who enabled its duke to conquer, for himself and his posterity, one 
of the fairest of kingdoms. Nor is it to be wondered at, that, if 
Normandy excites the curiosity of England's nobles and educated 
men,* England itself should excite a still deeper interest in the 
citizens of these States, and more especially of New England. 

Now whatever concerns our venerated forefathers — the circum- 
stances of their early lives — their religious faith and religious 
history — their trials, persecutions, and various sufferings and 
sacrifices for conscience' sake, and behavior under them — these are 
all fair subjects of inquiry, and interesting, as they go to form 
character. And certainly character needed to be formed in a 
peculiar mould to meet the emergency of their age. It was an age 
of peculiar developments, since the dawn of popular freedom 
appears to have commenced in it, as regards our father-land, and 
the popular branch of the government. 

James, a pedantic, self-indulgent, bigoted tyrant in feeling and 
principle, had succeeded Elizabeth, whose personal prejudices 
were as strong, whose mental powers were stronger, and whose will 
was made, like that of her capricious, despotic father, the 8th Henry, 
supreme law. Yet the spark of civil freedom, it is acknowledged, 
was struck out by the collision of puritanic zeal and knowledge 
with the flinty rock of prerogative and autocratic power. 

Reverence and esteem are, therefore, due to the puritan fathers 
of New England, aside from all considerations of their relation to 
ourselves in kindred blood. And the better portion of the world 
that is civilized by principles drawn from the Sacred Scriptures — 
a minority indeed of those who make profession of Christianity, 

* See Wiffen's • House of Russell,' and the ' Peerages,' generally. 



10 

yields it now ; since much of the bigotry of former ages has been 
giving way to experience, common sense, philosophy aud evangel- 
ism. 

Since, then, in the formation of character, every element of 
influence is important, according to its bearing on the subject, a 
minute survey of contemporary history, and that in Holland as 
well as England — minute, since it relates to individuals of humble 
station, whose movements attracted no cheering crowds ; and who 
were the suffering party, while their oppressors were, for the time, 
successful and triumphant — who left their names for the scoff of 
the proud courtier, the scorn of the titled, lordly prelate — must be 
gathered, not from the glittering volume, perfumed with the 
incense of kingly or queenly flattery — but the obscure records of 
suffering and often martyred innocence. 

Yes, the annals of the Reformation are defiled with blood — and 
out of its furnace came, like the three Jewish worthies, several of 
our forefathers. It is painful to read these annals — to think it 
possible, that man, frail, accountable man, should so torture and 
destroy his fellow, and, in the language of the poet, but little 
altered, 

' — play such tricks before indulgent Heaven 
Afl might make angels weep.' 

Yet they must be read, and pondered, too — and their natural 
influence taken into the account, if we would justly appreciate the 
genius of the age or of that, rather, which preceded it. and formed 
the actors in their times. And. certainly, without considering 
their age, and its scenes, its spirit, its precursors and accompani- 
ments, our judgment of them must be exceedingly defective. 

your investigations, then. Gentlemen, take a wide and import- 
ant range, a range almost illimitable. For mind acts on mind, 
and circumstance on circumstance, so extensively, that the origi- 
nation of the motion you contemplate may he traced, perhaps, to 
the remotest antiquity. Our very liberties, in which we so much 
glory, may he deduced from the unshackled enjoyments of the wild 
forests of Germany, or the equally lice condition and habits ol* 
British savages. The depredating pirate of Scandinavia, the 
freebooter "i conquering Normandy, the feudal vassal of almost 
every European people had a share in moulding character, the 
character that descends to us. 

.Nut only had the Puritans of New England learned from the 

ptures the genera] brotherhood of mankind, and the necessity 

of uniting with the service of God, and love of I lun. an obedience 

to the wholesome laws of the State: but to the leaders among 



11 

them the best writers of antiquity were more familiar than has 
been generally realized. 

The distinguished author of that noble work, the ' Defense of 
the American Constitutions,' was not alone in deriving his know- 
ledge of the true republican system from writers of Greece and 
Rome. The founders of New England freedom were before him. 
And the Confederation of 1643 was no faint emblem or preparation 
of the Federal Government itself. So true is it in human affairs 
that ' one soweth and another reapeth.' But without such an 
ancestry as ours, what would have been this country ? Look at 
France now, and contemplate her history for the last sixty years. 
Look at the provinces which have cast off the yoke of Spain. 
These nations have not had the moral training — as we have had — 
of centuries. And yet, if we consult history it will appear, that 
noble sentiments and noble actions burst forth from their progeni- 
tors in former ages. Witness the ceremony of inauguration among 
the Castilians. 'We,' say the nobles to their intended sovereign, 
£ we, who are as good as you, constitute you our king, and will 
obey you while you maintain our laws — and, if you do not this, 
we will not obey ' — or, as in the forcible conciseness of the original, 
' y si no, no !' And in France there have not been wanting noble 
minds, formed in the finest mould of human nature, which have 
apprehended, exhibited, and aimed to establish the purest forms of 
government, and provisions and enactments of law — but the nation 
could not understand, or would not follow them. Who does not 
revere the names of the virtuous De Thou, of Philip de Mornay, 
Hotoman, Montesquieu, De l' Hopital, D' Aguesseau, Malesher- 
bes, and many more of that nation so illustrious — but which yet, 
as the sagacious Sismondi has remarked, with equal truth and 
boldness, ' in each of her revolutions committed the great mistake 
of placing a Prince at its head.' When they had achieved their 
freedom, they knew not how to perpetuate and use it. Nor can it 
be perpetuated and rendered useful, in its highest sense, without 
the guidance of God's truth and His effectual blessing. 

' Patriots have toiled, and in their country's cause 
' Bled nobly, and their deeds, as they deserve, 
' Receive proud recompense. We give in charge 
' Their names to the sweet lyre. Th' historic muse, 
' Proud of the treasure, marches with it down 

• To latest times; and sculpture, in her turn, 
' Gives bond in stone, and ever-during brass, 
' To guard them, and immortalize her trust. 

• But fairer wreaths are due, though never paid, 
' To those, who, posted at the shrine of Truth, 

• Have fallen in her defense.' 

3 



i 



12 

' They lived unknown, 
' 'Till persecution dragged them into fame, 
' And chased them up to heaven. Their ashes flew — 
' No marble tells us whither. With their names 
' No bard embalms and sanctifies his song; 
' And History, so warm on meaner themes, 
' Is cold on this.' — [Cowper's Task, book v.] 

There are, speaking generally, two operations of the under- 
standing concerned in historical inquiries, as, indeed, in most sub- 
jects of human research. They demand, it may be, on the present 
occasion, a few thoughts and remarks. Analysis is one, synthesis, 
another. By the former, we look at a whole, and then take it 
asunder and inspect its parts. By the latter, we gather up the 
scattered parts, and combine them into a whole. It is apparent, 
that the latter, with respect to a history of human affairs, will in- 
volve the patient, minute industry of the antiquary: the former is 
more apt to occupy the historian — who exhibits the magnificent, 
and boundless, and ever-varying theatre of human life in a flow- 
ing, perpetuated strain. But the eye and the mind may be over- 
tasked — and we covet a retirement from the crowd, the bustle, the 
public show and noise, to seek a quiet, a more leisurely survey. 
This is exhibited in biography, of which genealogy is necessarily 
a component. 

History, then, has its great, its impressive scenes — and some of 
these are occasionally embodied by the pencil in grand historical 
paintings, on which we dwell, it may be, with a gratification min- 
gled with awe. But the family-portrait, and even the miniature, 
recalling dear and kindred features, and thus bringing back past 
scenes, may have a sweeter charm. And such is the relation of 
biography and genealogy to history at large. 

Nevertheless, the work of the historian demands an accurate 
knowledge and careful comparison of isolated facts. The ambi- 
tious sentences of Gibbon, who throws ridicule on heraldry, and 
affects to despise the obscure labors of the genealogist, were not 
framed, we have every reason to believe, without a toilsome, and 
certainly *a successful examination of their treasures — treasures, 
which few scholars have taken greater pains than he to accumu- 
late Tin' tact is. thai each department is necessary to the other. 
X i j « 1 while tin' antiquary collects and consigns to writing and the 
press, his nunc evanescent objects of curiosity — he is actually 
laboring for his analytical associate: and he thus gathers, with 
upulous care, the scattered materials of a fabric, of which, 
though us foundations he concealed from sight, they are yet essen- 
tial to the stability and even existence of what, in its just 



13 

proportions, artistic arrangements, and elaborate finish, delights all 
beholders. 

It is thus, in fact, with all that falls under human notice. Great 
views exercise the faculty of comprehension, and prompt analysis. 
Accurate knowledge, however, must result from an acquaintance 
with the parts, however subdivided. The Infinite Mind embraces 
all. Nothing is too great for it to grasp ; nothing is too little for 
it to overlook. And the Sacred Book we reverence, as the author- 
ity and guide of our faith, is written in perfect coincidence with 
this thought. While the interests of the universe are exhibited in 
its pages, the concerns of a family, the biography of an individual 
subject, the fall of a sparrow, and the numbering of the hairs of 
the head are not passed by — illustrating so beautifully, and so 
consistently with the soundest philosophy, the ways and attributes 
of Him, 

' Who gives its lustre to the insect's wing, 

* And wheels His throne upon the moving worlds.' 

There are those who allow themselves to ridicule the subject of 
genealogy — or, if they proceed not so far, to disesteem, at least, 
and neglect it. Some do this in fear lest they should discover in 
their ancestry causes for mortification and shame; and others, 
' because,' say they, ' my progenitors left me nothing, and why 
should I remember them 1 Had they left me a fortune, their 
memory would be precious.' Is money, then, the only valuable 
article on earth 1 Have not your ancestors left you — if phrenology 
be not a deception, and physical analogies a dream — the constitu- 
tional developments in which, perhaps, you glory 1 

It has been said, ' the man who does not think of his ancestors 
will be negligent of his posterity.' This is, probably, a true 
remark. And I cannot but think, that, seeing we are, as a com- 
munity, so engrossed in seeking the distinction — the palpable 
distinction — that arises from wealth, and have, by this disposition, 
attracted the notice of foreigners, who ascribe to us the worship of 
what is significantly, though I fear profanely called, ' the almighty 
dollar,' it is of great importance to our moral character that our 
self-estimation should possess other elements on which to found 
itself — and a little of even family-pride would be better than the 
stigma of a ' purse-proud aristocrat.' 

Now, on this subject of mere phrenological or physical develop- 
ment, are there many things of more importance to the human 
family? The often slighted yet honest physician, whose ' Domestic 
Medicine ' used to find a place in almost every considerate family, 
the clear-sighted, benevolent Buchan, dilates * on the recklessness 



* In his chap, on Children, and on Diseased Parents. 



14 

of marriages designed to increase pecuniary fortunes at the expense 
of health both of mind and body. And I have often thought, and 
said to gentlemen in medical practice, that hardly could a better 
legacy be left by an observing physician, than a physiological 
description and history of the families who form the subjects of 
his practice. 

' My son,' said a judicious nobleman of England, of high stand- 
ing, to his heir who had now arrived at man's estate, ' I wish you 
to marry. And I wish you not to marry beneath your rank ; but 
I have prepared lists of families of that rank, and this,' handing 
him one, ' contains the names of such as are subject to hereditary 
insanity — the other, those who inherit the king's evil, or scrofula — 
I beg you avoid them both.' 

^'ho is there, now, that is at all conversant with human woes 
arising from a feeble, broken constitution, afflicted with chronic 
diseases — lacerated with pain, and weary with suffering, or 
depressed with the anticipations of it — who would not prefer the 
'mens sana in corpore sano ' — a sound mind in a sound body, to 
heaps of yellow dust I 

We require pedigrees of horses — we inspect, with great care, 
those of cattle — to ascertain the genuineness of their descent; and 
the keen-sighted, experienced breeders of them acquire with the 
farmer, the sportsman, the independent gentleman, an almost 
enviable fame — but, is it not to be feared, that, in multitudes of 
instances, as in the old countries of Europe, the pecuniary consid- 

• ration outweighs immeasurably that which is merely physiolog- 
ical ! 

The sad truth that accompanies these remarks, is found, if we 
may trust a shrewd observer, our countryman. Thomas Jefferson, 
in the mental and physical conformation of most of the hereditary 
or legitimate crown-bearers of Europe — where, by repeated royal 
alliances, mental and corporal disease has become a fatal inheri- 
tance. 

I pursue this subject further. The very hardships which are 
encountered by settlers, in such scenes as our country exhibited 
in i to Europeans, call for energy, inforce self-denial, demand 
frugality and good economy, strengthen the constitution, give 
health and vigor to the mind, and tend to prolong life. It has 

• •veil been said, that a voyage across the Atlantic adds ten years 
in a man's age. How tins may be I will not undertake to deter- 
mine. But it is a fact, that descendents of younger branches of 
noble families, obliged to look out for themselves, and therefore 
claiming often the footless 'martlet' as their peculiar heraldric 



15 

designation, have been found in America, among the sons of indus- 
try, if not want. Yes, when riot and debauchery, or high, luxu- 
rious living and indolence have caused a ' noble ' family to become 
extinct — the off-shoot, neglected and exposed, has grown to be a 
sightly tree. The heir of the illustrious and ancient house of De 
Courcy was discovered in a hardy seaman, sailing, nearly a cen- 
tury ago, out of the harbor of our own Newport ; and, in my own 
time, the legitimate owner of the immense estates of the Grosven- 
ors, in a poor farmer of New York. The latter never inherited. 
The descendant of the former now possesses the family title and 
estates. 

There are those, I have said, who allow themselves to disparage 
genealogical inquiry, and the information it gives. But, whatever 
indifference one may experience in regard to the details of families 
unconnected with his own, yet hardly, I think, would the case 
occur, even among the most obscure in the midst of us, in which, 
when particulars of creditable actions or dispositions were narrated, 
relating to a man's father, grandfather, or remoter connection, he 
would not be tempted to break out in the spirit, at least, of that 
genuine, earnest, emphatic New England phrase, ' Do tell ! ' And 
you might ' tell ' on, without fear of wearying your auditor. The 
feeling is natural. It belongs to our very self-hood. It is a modi- 
fication, doubtless, of self-love. But how much more liberal than 
the boast of riches, or the oppression of power ! How far more 
purifying and ennobling ! — since he who values his descent from 
an ancestry distinguished for any of the virtues, inherits also, with 
this affection, most generally, a disposition adverse to practices of 
a contrary character. ' Dedecorant bene natos culpee,' said the 
Roman poet, as if he had cautioned thus : ' would you maintain 
the respect your predecessors have acquired, abhor every mean 
and dishonorable thing.' It becomes an axiom. 

Then, again, as population advances, the relations of kindred 
seem gradually to become more and more faint. A brother is but 
what a cousin was in former times, when the population was sparse 
and its numbers few. Now whatever tends to bring men happily 
together, and unite them in bonds of mutual regard, has an effect 
to purify and advance civilization, and render society an antidote 
to the ruder and merely selfish propensities. This does the much- 
abused science of genealogy. 

Our ancestors were so busied in their great enterprise — so hur- 
ried from place to place, and perplexed by new and trying circum- 
stances, ever changing — and their minds, when enjoying any 
leisure, were in so many cases occupied with spiritual and heav- 



16 

enly thoughts, the understanding of God's precious Word, and the 
great concern of ' making their calling and election sure ' — that 
they quite neglected to detail to us their parentage, their employ- 
ments in life, their marriage-alliances, and the descent of their 
help-mates. These matters come to us only incidentally, and in 
most cases, if they come at all, imperfectly. For, although but 
little more than two centuries have intervened since the settlement 
of this part of our country, there is hardly a family, even in New 
England, that can exhibit an entire pedigree, without a single 
hiatus, in all the branches of its ancestry. And this is not uttered 
at random. For there are not many who realize, that, if only 
seven generations are to be recorded, these seven embrace, of ne- 
cessity, 12S individuals, and 64 alliances, at least, by marriage. 

It would be a shame to us in future time, if, enjoying so much, 
at so great sacrifices made by our ancestors, and that so near our 
own times, we should not transmit to our posterity every thing of 
importance concerning those worthy men who preceded us, and 
enriched us at their own peril. 

But, in the investigation of our genealogies, we are never to for- 
get the piety of the Pilgrim Fathers — their care for their posterity, 
as well as their desire of religious freedom for themselves — their 
grief and painful foreboding of evil when they saw in Holland the 
Sabbath desecrated, even as in England, under the inconsistent, 
unendurable James. 

And I offer no apology, Gentlemen, nor will you expect one from 
me, for urging you to dwell on this part of their character. It is 
the leading feature of it. Without such attention our portrait 
would bear no resemblance. And it is our privilege, that we can, 
notwithstanding our ' plentiful lack' of materials in other respects 
desirable, accumulate enough to make this distinction palpable. 

Take, for instance, the highly estimable character of the elder 
Winthbop, among our Massachusetts 1 worthies. Take those of 
Carver, Bradford, Haynes, Winslow, Eaton, Bkadstkket, and 
some others, ;iml analyze them. Compare them with the require- 
ments of God in the holy book from which they drew the rules, 
maxims, ami motives of their lives — and, though they were not 
professionally devoted to the instruction of their fellow-citizens as 
clergymen yet ' the sanctity of the priest,' as well as the integrity 
<>i the Christian magistrate, must be acknowledged to shine in 
them. 

And such men. men of Midi stamp ami metal our country and 

ry country demands. No other is equal, properly considered, 

to the task ami respoijsihihty of government. And wo to our na- 



17 

tion when these enduring qualities are neglected or disesteemed — 
when, concerning a candidate for office, it shall not be the last of 
inquiries but the first, ' is he honest, is he capable ] ' 

Your investigations, Gentlemen, will disinter the precious gems 
which formed the ornaments in the crown of former worthies, and 
restore them to their primeval lustre. They will, I trust, display 
to their multiplied descendants an example the more precious, as 
infidelity and corruption, which God forbid ! shall increase and 
abound among us. They will hold up to view a model for our 
own statesmen, which all of them, from the highest to the least 
influential, will do well to notice.' 

Our subject becomes a serious one. Nor would I have it other- 
wise. Serious responsibilities rest on us. We are set forth as a 
spectacle to the world — and not merely to the world which we be- 
hold, but to our sainted ancestry, who, for aught we can tell, are 
yet interested, and that most deeply, in the purity, integrity and 
permanent usefulness of their highly-privileged posterity. 

It was a maxim with a heathen poet, that ' the brave spring 
from the brave and good.' * Still, it is a question of some moment, 
shall we encourage family-distinctions? Is not our system of gov- 
ernment, republican as it is, opposed to all such exclusive marks 
of eminence ? And then comes the dreaded name of aristocracy. 
Aristocracy? — and what is aristocracy? Not simply family dis- 
tinction, in consequence of descent. This is but one form of supe- 
riority. There is an aristocracy of office — to which a line of 
Claudian may apply : 

' None haughtier than the poor when raised to power,' t — 

an aristocracy of learning and talent — an aristocracy of wealth, 
as we have seen, acknowledged and felt by all, and eagerly sought, 
and even an aristocracy of gracefulness and beauty, of no less pre- 
tensions. And, notwithstanding laws and customs, these distinc- 
tions will exist. Nor do they interfere, nor need they, with the 
maintenance of law. Other republics have existed, and have yet 
cherished family distinctions. Venice, Switzerland, Geneva and 
Holland are modern examples. And many of our immigrants 
have, a long time since, and onward, brought badges of distinction 
with them, and indulge the harmless vanity — am I to call it? — of 
keeping them. The badges to which I allude are coats of arms; 

* ' Fortes creantur fortibus et bonis.' Hor. 

t ' Asperius nihil est humili quum surgit in altum.' 



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18 

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which have, indeed, their use, and an important use when au- 
thentic, in identifying families, and proving descents. 

In these, our friends of New York are advanced before us al- 
ready, and have a system, brief however, published and in circu- 
lation. And, if its representations are admitted, our Washington 
was not only of noble but royal lineage — and an admirable repre- 
sentative, it must be acknowledged, of regal dignity — 'one of na- 
ture's nobles.' 

But, Gentlemen, this is a question which, doubtless, you will 
scrutinize, for it admits of contradiction; and must be proved, if 
proved at all, by diligent and accurate research: Mapleson and 
Burke, and our own Sparks, as also the distinguished herald, 
Heard, and Washington himself being at variance. 

If, however, on these points difficulty be apprehended, and a 
discordance of opinion prevail, let it be our endeavor to raise the 
depressed to an equality, so far as may be, with the most exalted, 
by the general extension of moral and literary culture, begun by 
the venerated fathers of New England, and transmittted to their 
offspring with earnest and sedulous care. Nor need this be re- 
garded as a mere Utopian proposition. It is truly republican, and 
in actual process of experiment — and it is as truly Christian — al- 
though it need not extend to the vagaries of socialism. Let but 
labor be regarded with esteem and respect — as in fact it is by no 
small part of our great community : and, by its success in procuring 
the comforts of life, and the privileges of the social state, is still 
likely to become more so — then may future generations carry on 
the designs and efforts of the early fathers of our Commonwealth 
to their ultimate completion, in the establishment of a high and 
useful civilization, such as has not heretofore blessed mankind. 



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